JP2000165563A - Image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To achieve a desired function even when a program of all functions is too large to be stored in a RAM of a processor. A processor for performing image processing, a RAM for storing a processing program, a ROM for storing a processing program and data, a ROM loader for transferring data stored in the ROM to the RAM, A CPU 2 for controlling the ROM loader 6 and an operation panel 1 for inputting a desired process;
Is a scanner, facsimile,
When executing any of the functions of the copier and the printer, the ROM 5 stores the RA
The program to be loaded into M4 is switched.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a digital signal processor (DSP).
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that performs image processing using Signal Prodessor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image processing of a digital copying machine has been performed by hardware logic. In recent years, there has been an attempt to replace this with a DSP. SIMD (Single Instruction Stream Multiple Data St
There is a DSP having a (ream) type architecture. This architecture is characterized in that a plurality of processors are executed by the same instruction. Therefore, a high processing speed can be obtained. However, recent digital multifunction peripherals have various processing modes, and all processing programs are stored in the R
Cannot be stored on AM.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a module covering all functions such as a scanner, a copying machine, a facsimile and a printer is usually stored in a ROM, and downloaded to a RAM inside the processor when the power is turned on. It has a format. The CPU sets which function is selected and used by the serial bus.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the RAM includes eight modules, an MTF filter module 211, a smoothing filter module 212, a γ correction module 213, a line width correction module 214, a binary dither module 215,
Value error diffusion module 216, multi-value dither module 2
17 and the multi-level error diffusion module 218.

[0004]

In order to store the eight modules 211 to 218 on the RAM as described above,
A large RAM capacity is required, and the configuration of each module is very branched. Since the number of branches increases, the execution efficiency of the program may be reduced. In addition, if the size of the program is too large to be stored in the RAM of the processor, the function may not be executed. .

On the other hand, it is possible to embed various processes in a program and to distribute the processes by setting registers from the outside. However, if the number of branch instructions increases, real-time processing cannot be performed due to the execution time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to achieve a desired function even when a program of all functions is too large to be stored in a RAM of a processor. To provide a simple image processing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of performing high-speed processing even when the number of branch instructions increases.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to a first means comprises an image processing means for performing image processing; a first storage means for storing a processing program; Second storage means for storing programs and data, transfer means for transferring the data stored in the second storage means to the first storage means, control means for controlling the transfer means, Input means for instructing and inputting the processing of the above, wherein the control means, at least when at least two of a scanner, a facsimile, a copying machine and a printer are connected, according to the required function of each device A program to be loaded from the second storage means to the first storage means is switched.

The second means is the first means, wherein the first means
Is a RAM, and the second storage means is RO
M.

A third means is the first means, wherein the control means switches the program to be loaded according to the image quality mode of each device.

A fourth means is the first means, wherein the control means switches the program to be loaded in accordance with the switching of the filter coefficient.

A fifth means is the first means, wherein the control means switches the program to be loaded in accordance with the switching of the γ table.

In the following embodiments, the image processing means is provided in the processor (processor core 3) 10, the RAM serving as the first storage means is provided in the RAM 4, the ROM serving as the second storage means is provided in the ROM, and the transfer means is provided. To the ROM loader 6,
The control means corresponds to the ROM loader 6 and the input means corresponds to the operation panel 1, respectively.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This image processing apparatus is a common unit of a scanner, a facsimile, and a copier, and includes an operation panel 1, a CPU 2, a processor core 3,
AM4, ROM5, ROM loader 6, and external memory 7
Is provided as a component. The processor 10 includes the processor core 3, the RAM 4, the ROM loader 6, and the IIC controller 14.

In the image processing apparatus configured as described above,
The CPU 2 interprets the contents of the instruction in response to an instruction from the operation panel 1 and performs predetermined settings for each unit. Processor 1
For 0, the instruction content from the CPU 2 is set via the serial line 8. The protocol of the serial line 8 complies with I2C, and data can be read from and written to each unit in the chip. Registers that can be referenced from the processor 10 can also be read and written by I2C.

The image data input 9 is 8-bit input image data. Desired processing is performed in real time by the image processor core 3, and the processed image is output from the image data out 11. Processor core 3
Has access to the external memory 7 to secure a work area. The external memory 7 may be a FIFO or a RAM.

The processor core 3 has an R for storing a program.
It operates according to the data read from AM4.
An address bus 12 and a data bus 13 connecting the processor core 3 with the RAM 4 and the ROM loader 6 are provided inside. In the ROM loader 6, a start address in the ROM 5, a transfer data amount, and a write start address of the RAM 4 are designated and stored by the I2C.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the multifunction machine image processing module comprises four modules: a scanner module 201, a copy module 202, a facsimile module 203, and a printer module 204. Therefore, when the copy mode is selected from the operation panel 1, the CPU 2 designates the serial line 8 to transfer only the copy module 202 of the ROM table of FIG. 2 to the RAM area. R based on this designation
OM loader 6 stores only copy mode modules in RAM
Transfer to 4. The copy mode modules include the MTF filter module 211 and the smoothing filter module 21.
2, γ correction module 213, multi-value dither module 2
17, a multi-level error diffusion module 218, and a line width correction module 2146.

Similarly, in the case of a facsimile (hereinafter, referred to as "FAX"), a fax module 203 is transferred. The FAX module 203 includes an MTF filter module 211, a smoothing filter module 212, a γ correction module 213, a line width correction module 214, a binary dither module 215, and a binary error diffusion module 2
Sixteen. This is similar to the scanner module 201. Further, the printer module 204 includes only the line width correction module 214. If you do this, RA
It can be seen that the capacity of M4 only needs to be able to store up to six modules. By placing only the program to be executed on the RAM 4 inside the processor 10, it is possible to cope with a large-scale system without using a large-capacity RAM.

The operation modes include a subdivided image quality mode. The processing performed differs for each image quality mode. For example, when the character mode is selected in the copy mode from the operation panel 1, the CPU 2
Is designated by the serial line 8 to transfer the module group 301 in the copy character document mode of the ROM table to the RAM area. In this embodiment, the execution objects are separately prepared for each image quality mode (the text / photo original mode module group for copy 302 and the photo original mode module group for copy 303), and an appropriate object file is downloaded according to the image quality mode. I do. FIG. 3 is an example of a download table for each image quality mode in the copy mode.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, in the module 301 in the copy character original mode, the filter uses an MTF correction filter (MTF filter module 311), and the γ curve for γ correction processing is a curve (character) for character mode. The gamma correction module 312) is used, and the line width is corrected using the line width correction module 313. The coefficients and the strength of the MTF correction filter are programmed so that they can be changed by register setting via the IIC controller 14 in FIG. The gamma correction module 312
The desired γ curve is approximated by several straight lines. The density can be adjusted by selecting which approximate straight line to use by register setting.

When the photo original mode is designated from the operation panel 1, the execution module 303 for the photo mode is downloaded to the RAM 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the photo original mode module 303 includes a smoothing filter module 331, a photo γ correction module 332, and a multi-value dither module 333. The coefficient of the smoothing filter 331, the curve of γ correction, and the size and type of dither to be used can be changed in a program by register setting via the IIC controller 14.

When the text / photo original mode is selected from the operation panel 1, the execution module 302 for the text / photo original mode is similarly downloaded to the RAM 4. This module 302 includes a smoothing filter module 3 in addition to the MTF filter module 321 as shown in FIG.
22 are selected, and switching is performed by more detailed mode setting. The two modules 32
In addition to 1,322, a character / photo γ correction module 323 and a multi-level error diffusion module 324 are also downloaded to the RAM 4.

As described above, by placing only a program to be executed limited to the image quality mode on the RAM 4 inside the processor 10, a large-scale system can be handled even with a small RAM area. Also, there is an advantage that the execution speed is improved because the number of branches of the program inside the module is reduced. Note that a method of MTF correction and γ correction by a processor is known, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the operation mode has further subdivided image quality mode adjustment values. The MTF filter has a function of changing filter characteristics by returning coefficients for the main scanning and the sub-scanning, respectively. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Module 41 corresponding to each coefficient of main scanning and sub-scanning
1 and 412, and all γ conversion modules 421, 422 and 423 corresponding to each image quality mode are stored. Therefore, for example, as shown in the RAM table 402 in the serviceman's adjustment mode, the coefficient in the main scanning direction is 4 (MT).
The F-filter main scanning module 431) has a coefficient of 5 (MTF filter sub-scanning module 432) in the sub-scanning direction.
When the level of the density 4 in the character mode (γ correction character mode density 4 module 433) is selected as the γ correction, the module corresponding to this is
It is downloaded to AM4 and each process is executed. Each module has almost no branch-executed portion, and it is possible to facilitate a book optimized in terms of speed and program size. Therefore, the RAM table 40
2 can be operated at a very high speed because the capacity of 2 is minimal and there are almost no branch instructions.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when at least two of the scanner, the facsimile, the copying machine, and the printer are connected, the second storage is performed in accordance with the required function of each device. Since the program to be loaded from the means to the first storage means is switched, a desired function can be executed even if the program of all functions is too large to be stored in the first storage means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the first storage means is a RAM and the second storage means is a ROM, even if the RAM capacity is small, only necessary programs are loaded from the ROM. The operation can be performed by

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the program to be loaded is switched according to the image quality mode, even if the size of the program for performing the processing according to the image quality is too large to be stored in the first storage means, Processing can be executed with desired image quality.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the program to be loaded is switched according to the switching of the filter coefficient. Therefore, even if the size of the program is large, it is possible to use a small-capacity storage means. Further, since the number of branches in the processing inside the program is reduced, high-speed processing can be performed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the program to be loaded is switched in accordance with the switching of the γ table, even if the size of the program is large, it is possible to use a small-capacity storage means. Further, since the number of branches in the processing inside the program is reduced, high-speed processing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an RO storing an image processing module for a multifunction peripheral;
It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of M.

FIG. 3 illustrates an R storing a copy mode image processing module.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of OM.

FIG. 4 illustrates an R storing a copy mode image processing module.
It is explanatory drawing which shows other states of OM.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a ROM storing an image processing module for a multifunction peripheral according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 operation panel 2 CPU 3 processor core 4 RAM 5 ROM 6 ROM loader 7 external memory 8 serial line 10 processor 14 IIC controller 201 scanner module 202 copy module 203 fax module 204 printer module

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AP10 HH01 HJ10 HK11 HM07 HN05 HN15 HN20 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB20 AB41 AB43 AB44 AC21 AC22 AC43 5C077 PP01 PP15 PP41 PQ08 PQ12 PQ22 PQ23

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image processing means for performing image processing, a first storage means for storing a processing program, a second storage means for storing a processing program and data, and a storage means for storing in the second storage means Transfer means for transferring the obtained data to the first storage means, control means for controlling the transfer means, and input means for instructing and inputting desired processing, wherein the control means comprises at least a scanner, When at least two of a facsimile, a copying machine, and a printer are connected, a program to be loaded from the second storage unit to the first storage unit is switched according to a required function of each device. Image processing device. 2. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first storage means is a RAM, and said second storage means is a ROM. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the program to be loaded according to an image quality mode of each of the apparatuses. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the program to be loaded in accordance with switching of a filter coefficient. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the program to be loaded in accordance with switching of the γ table.